Winter Kennels

I recommend Winter Kennels for the snake avoidance training. Working with Kay was very easy. I took my two year old chocolate lab in for snake avoidance training. It is never fun taking your beloved dog somewhere, knowing that they'll be using a shock collar for training purposes. However, I'm very glad I did. My dog was introduced to three separate snakes (venom glands are removed), and the idea is that once they pick up the scent, see the snake and move in to investigate, they get a shock to the system to reinforce that the snake is not something to be curious about or move towards. You definitely want your dog to associate a snake with a quick shock, and to be fearful of a snake. I was amazed at how small the snakes were as well - you really can't see them very well until you're 8 feet in front of them, and by that point it may be too late. It is very important to me that my dog can now recognize a snake and know to stay away. While there is no guarantee for certain that she won't get bit by a snake, I have much more peace of mind about having her off leash in central TX, southern CA, etc. At the end of the day, I'd much rather her get 3 small shocks to her system through training, rather than get bit by a toxic snake.

I have had 3 of my hunting dogs snake avoidance trained by Kay Winters over the last 10 years. Each has left this training with the ability to not only avoid being snake bit but also left with the ability to ensure that myself and my family members have never been threatened by a snake near by our cabin. Each dog has warned us of the presence of rattle snakes several times around our cabin over the last 7 years. It is essential that the dog realize through the training that a snake will kill you and Kay's process is humane and successful. Their charge in comparison to not training is of no consequence!!!

I took Snoopy, my 28 lb Jack Russel Terrier to Sportsman's Finest for snake avoidance training. Winter Kennels was the business being sourced for their training. The business was a small operation that seemed to be operated by a just a mother/daughter team. The daughter was the supposed expert who handled all the training. I was unfamiliar with the shock collar equipment and so trusted that Sportsman's Finest was responsible enough to make sure that this was proper, safe and humane training because of their name. As I waited for our turn, the trainer from winter kennels was bragging and laughing about how she turned the collar settings up all the way to 17 which would make a cow jump out of his skin. I watched the other, larger dogs react with a jump and a yelp when receiving the shock. Not knowing how this might affect a smaller dog, we took our turn. When she shocked Snoopy, he freaked out and tried to bolt out of his training collar and run for the hills yelping all the way. He was pulling me across the field toward the highway and if he had gotten out, he would have run out into the road and gotten hit. I had to pick him up to stop his frantic terrorized reaction. It took about twenty minutes to get him to calm down. He was seriously traumatized by that ridiculously strong shock and continued to be jumpy for about six months after the training, jumping at the slightest sound or stepping on a stick or getting brushed by a bush leaf when on walks around the neighborhood. This trainer is an infantile, unprofessional and capricious person. Don't take your dog there.

I took my dog Yogi there for snake avoidance training. They were very fast, patient and used live venomous snakes that had their venom sacs removed. So while the snakes could bite they could not inject venom. Yogi did not get bit but now knows to stay away from at least 3 kinds of snakes. They used rattlesnake, copperhead and water moccasin. They also offer free refresher course for dogs that they have trained.